São Paulo's defeat: what went wrong against Ceará | OneFootball

São Paulo was defeated by Ceará 1-0 on Monday night (29th), at Morumbis, in a match valid for the 25th round of the Brazilian Championship. Despite dominating possession (61% to 39%), the tricolor team was unable to turn their control of the game into offensive effectiveness and ended up punished by the rival’s only big moment.

Sterile possession

According to SofaScore data, São Paulo completed 505 passes throughout the match, compared to just 335 for Ceará. However, this dominance did not translate into offensive quality. The team took 15 shots, but none of these attempts were classified as a “big chance” — a statistic that lays bare the difficulty in turning volume into real danger.

Lack of aggressiveness in the final third

Even with more corners (7 to 3) and greater territorial pressure, the Morumbis team produced only 0.79 expected goals (xG), a number very close to Ceará’s (0.71), who had less possession and fewer shots (7 in total), but were more efficient. The northeastern team also managed to create the only big chance of the match — the one that decided the score.

Exposed defense at crucial moments

The São Paulo defense forced goalkeeper Rafael to make five saves, compared to just two by Ceará’s keeper, a sign that, even while attacking more often, the home team struggled with counterattacks and lost important duels when regrouping.

The portrait of defeat

In summary, São Paulo had volume, but didn’t know how to turn it into real danger. Ceará, on the other hand, was lethal: less possession, fewer shots, but more objectivity. The defeat exposes the tricolor team’s need to be more creative and incisive in the final third, since possession alone does not guarantee results.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.